As Snape and Albus opened the next door, a flood of soft light flooded through it. This room was full of windows, each enchanted to show its own beautiful view of a sunny garden outside. The walls that were not windows were lined with books, and there were comfortable-looking armchairs and poufs all throughout the room. Those occupying this room looked out the windows or read their books with pleasant, yet slightly saddened, expressions on their faces.
“Professor, what is this place?” Albus asked.
“This is the Department of Limbo, where the well-intentioned with incomplete magic go.”
“Doesn’t seem so bad.”
“It doesn’t seem so bad to you, Potter,” Snape spat. “But think about an eternity, if you can trouble your little mind. You’d soon grow tired of pictures and stories of reality. Yet these people have chosen fake versions of life during their lifetime; now after death, they have more than they ever wanted, and no way to fulfill their true desires.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Albus saw a young girl with blonde hair and brown eyes sitting on a stool. She looked peaceful, but her eyes seemed to speak of loss.
“Professor Snape, who is she?”
“That is Ariana Dumbledore.”
“Professor Dumbledore’s sister?”
“The same. She was always so troubled that she could not be sent to school, and so her magic was never developed properly.” Snape pointed to a tall wizard next to her, older, but with similar features. “And that is her brother Aberforth, who, though he had magic at hand, refused to use it to make a difference in the world. The one exception--when he showed his goodwill--was when he helped your father to get into Hogwarts to fight the Dark Lord. But even then, he did not complete the act by joining the fight.” With a swift turn, Snape continued leading Albus out the door and down the hall, to the far elevator.
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